ABOUT CHM

Who We Are

Commerce Home Mortgage, founded in 1994, is a national mortgage banking company that is certified by the United States Department of the Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), and a non-bank member of the Federal Home Loan Bank.

Our mission is to provide financial services to the entire population of people, not just individuals that are able to meet today’s stringent documentation guidelines. We specifically aim to empower underbanked homeowners and communities by providing access to prime capital.

We are the ONLY CDFI-certified lender in the nation that is also a licensed seller/servicer with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. Commerce is one of the few, if not the only, non-bank, prime lenders in America with the regulatory, financial, and operational capability to serve diverse borrowers with non-traditional documentation.

Commerce’s Unique Advantage

The Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) requires mortgage lenders to adhere to the ‘Ability to Repay’ (ATR) rule. The ATR rule requires lenders to carefully examine and verify borrowers’ financial documents as well as satisfy eight additional requirements before passing through underwriting. However, there are many prime credit-worthy borrowers that are unable to provide the documentation necessary to meet these requirements.

Commerce Home Mortgage, being a certified CDFI, is exempt from the ATR requirements and can therefore employ ‘common-sense underwriting’. Commerce is uniquely positioned to develop mortgage products that address this significant segment of borrowers who are underbanked due to current regulatory restrictions.

Commerce originates home mortgages online and through its 35 + lending offices across the nation. With our wide range of unique and niche mortgage products, highly experienced team of mortgage professionals and common-sense underwriting, we are able to quickly help both conventional and diverse borrowers with their home financing goals.